Global Ministries News & Stories
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1500x800_Banner_EarthKeeper_Project_Birmingham_V2.jpeg)
February 22, 2020
EarthKeepers project seeks new life using discarded plastics in downtown Birmingham
Church of the Reconciler UMC in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, uses an EarthKeepers grant to test the viability of increasing community plastic recycling and employment opportunities with a small-scale recycle business within the church.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1500x800_Banner_Faithful_Abundance.jpeg)
February 21, 2020
Faithful abundance
Eric Soard recounts the abundance of relationships and support received from local leaders and community members while working to plant churches in Tanzania, where he's served as a missionary alongside his wife and three children for the last ten years.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1500x800_Banner_Missionary_Letter_Keys.jpeg)
February 21, 2020
Missionaries at Africa University train leaders to embrace an ever-changing world
Abundance can be shared across communities in many ways. Africa University produces well-trained agriculturists, some of whom who have become missionaries in other countries, spreading methods for abundant crops and deeper spiritual lives.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/brundi-new-church-1-3000px-1.jpeg)
February 21, 2020
New church expands reach in Burundi
After reunifiying in 2018 following 12 years of division, United Methodists in southern Burundi have a newly built and dedicated church that allows everyone to worship together under one roof.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1500x800_Banner_Mission_Is_Abundance.jpg)
February 18, 2020
Mission is: Abundance
Mission does not ask that we focus on what is deficient. Mission asks that we celebrate the abundance of skills, resources, knowledge and creativity which God gives all people and communities.
February 18, 2020
Call for Prayer for Burkina Faso
Following another attack during worship in a church in Burkina Faso, general secretary Thomas Kemper joins other faith leaders in condemning such violence and issuing a call for prayer.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200x630_Widget_Pablo_Sosa.jpeg)
February 14, 2020
Remembering the Rev. Pablo Sosa: Author and advocate of Global Song
S T Kimbrough Jr., former director of Global Ministries’ Global Praise program, reflects on Sosa’s many contributions to United Methodism.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1500x800_Banner_Mission_Is_Abundance.jpeg)
February 12, 2020
Mission is: Abundance
Mission does not ask that we focus on what is deficient. Mission asks that we celebrate the abundance of skills, resources, knowledge and creativity which God gives all people and communities.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200x630_Widget_General_Sec_Kemper_Transition.jpeg)
February 5, 2020
Mission Board CEO will not stand for reelection
Thomas Kemper announces intention to not seek reelection to the executive post he assumed in 2010.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20200110_Mission_Initiatives_Banner_1500.jpeg)
January 23, 2020
Two mission initiatives to join Côte d’Ivoire
A delegation from Global Ministries met with two mission initiatives — in Senegal and Cameroon — and announced these initiatives will become districts attached to the Côte d'Ivoire Conference.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20200110_Facilitation_Summit_Banner_1500.jpeg)
January 23, 2020
Dialoguing in love: Facilitators trained to guide the church through difficult conversations
Cohosted by Global Ministries, the General Commission on Religion and Race, and Candler School of Theology, the November 2019 “Facilitating Mutuality: Dialogue Across Differences” conference equipped participants to facilitate conversations in the midst of the divisive climate of The United Methodist Church.
![](https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20200110_Mutare_Banner.png)
January 23, 2020
Improving Health at Old Mutare Mission Hospital
With support from the Abundant Health Initiative, Old Mutare in Zimbabwe is receiving improvements to its facilities to better meet the health needs of the 15,000 people it serves in the area.